| Creating animations for the Web in Fireworks is a lot more fun to think about than to do. The best animation tool is obviously Flash because the program was designed for the job of creating motion. That being said, Fireworks can be used to build animations. In fact, there are three different methods you can use to create animations: frame-by-frame, tweened, and animation symbols. Each has its own pros and cons and will be discussed later in this chapter. Before you start tweening away to make the next full-feature animation, we'll take a look at what's involved in building a good animation. Animation Planning Motion on the Web, or on film, is an illusion. Animation is a series of still images, each with a slight change in appearance from the previous image, that are rapidly presented to the viewer. The human eye processes these images and blends them into a smooth motion. If the images move too slowly, the illusion is gone. This speed is measured as frame rate. Frame rate is measured in frames per second (fps). Most movies and television shows shot on film have a frame rate of 24 fps. Most shows shot on video have a frame rate of 30 fps. Moving to the Web, we have another concern to throw into the mix. The higher the resolution, the higher the file size , which results in a longer download time. Increasing the frame rate also increases the file size. Bitmap animations have a sequence of bitmap graphics. Each bitmap graphic is added together to complete the animation in terms of file size. Although file compression helps reduce the file size, bitmap graphics can get large quickly. The most common bitmap animation type is the Animated GIF. Vector animations have vector graphics on each frame. Vector animations just change object parameters from frame to frame and are accordingly smaller in file size than bitmap animations. The most common vector animation type is Macromedia's Flash SWF format. Before you build an animation, there is another issue we need to discuss: What is the output format for the final animation? An Animated GIF typically has a large file size, but is universally compatible with nearly all browsers. This type of animation is restricted by the GIF file format's limited 256- color palette, and it cannot incorporate sound or any other interactivity. The Animated GIF, however, is a piece of cake to implement and you don't need to know Flash to make an animation. The Flash SWF typically has a small file size and is compatible with most newer browsers that come shipped with the Flash player plug-in. Because Flash is a vector program, certain Fireworks effects such as drop shadows or bevels are lost when converted to Flash. The Flash SWF offers the ability to add sound as well as quite complex interactivity. Mastering Flash, however, takes some expertise. | 